Breakaway
Charlie Novak
Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance, Second Chance Romance
Release Date: 07.23.19
Blurb
When your life revolves around a single goal, is
there room for love?
Christian King is a rising star in English
football. He’s talented, devoted, and on the road to glory. He’s following the
path that’s been laid out for him since he was four, and he has no plans to
deviate from it. Christian’s life revolves around a single goal—to be the best…
until he runs into his first love and former best friend, David.
David Cade is just trying to survive the final
year of his PhD intact, while battling long hours, unmotivated students, and
the idea that academia might not be for him. But a chance encounter with his
first love’s twin sister changes everything, and suddenly David is faced with
the realisation that he can’t leave the past behind.
When David and Christian are drawn back
together, sparks fly. Soon, Christian is forced to confront his deepest
insecurities. Can they break away from their fears for a second chance at true
love?
Breakaway is a 79,000 word contemporary gay
romance featuring light angst, glittery bath bombs, a ginger-haired
roommate/pet, shared Star Wars love, and a meddling twin sister.
Universal
Book Link: http://mybook.to/breakaway
Review
What if you’d never really moved on from your first
love—that teenage boy you were certain you were in love with? And what if you
saw him years later when you were a rising star in the sports world, closeted
and set on a path you’re not sure you ever really wanted to be on but were
still locked into despite your overwhelming fear you will never really measure
up? Then what if you see that boy you loved and he has secretly never gotten
over you either and is willing to take a chance—a second chance at making it
work between you but you are buried so deep in the closet there is no way you
ever think you will deserve this guy you love with all your heart?
Welcome to Christian King’s life. He is one of the best
players in English football--destined for greatness—gay, in the closet, afraid,
alone and unhappy. But he never really took the time to analyze any of those
emotions because every time they got to be too big for him he simply shut them
down or ran from the source. But David is back in his life and he doesn’t want
to run any more. Christian wants a second chance but can’t find it in himself
to feel that he deserves it. David is in it for the long haul. Closeted or not,
surely Christian will eventually feel brave enough to come out—at least to his
friends—surely they will not spend the rest of their lives being “just old
football friends” to everyone while being lovers in the dark.
Charlie Novak has released the first in a new series
entitled Breakaway. With everything
from a closeted gay virgin to a second chance at love, this novel explores how
to make a relationship work when one of the partners has no real clue as to
what he wants but instead treads a path mapped out for him by a deceased father
who was living his dreams through his own child. If Christian is not the
perfect example of tortured soul I am not sure what is. He has lived his life
locked into a “plan” of his father’s making by denying his emotions in order to
become the world’s best footballer—all so he can live up to the dream his
father had for him. That means hiding who he really is and refusing himself
what he really wants which in this case is to love David. At first, David is
patient but when Christian begins to really psych himself out and convince
himself he is never going to be the person David deserves, David pushes
Christian to choose—the sport or their relationship and he loses.
This is a slow moving romance and for many reasons that was
actually a really good way for this story to progress. It made the idea that
Christian was a shy virgin of a man who has never really explored his sexuality
other than in his teen years with David something that is both reasonable and
believable. It also gave the time needed for David and Christian to really fall
in love with each other allowing the author to craft an intimate and emotional
story as opposed to some insta-love trope that was more about sex than building
a relationship. I really liked David. His patience, his desire to make a life
with Christian and be willing to wait for it along with his wonderfully fun
relationship with his roommate, Kit, made him a fully fleshed out character who
I could easily enjoy.
I wish Christian had come off as a little bit less whiny and
wishy-washy. I got his fears about coming out and I understood his faithfulness
to his dad but everyone around him was telling him to let loose—to trust and
confide about his sexuality to at least his two closest friends on the team.
The fact that it took nearly the entire novel for something to give in that
area made for a bit of repetitiveness that began to wear thin after a while.
One can only read the same internal conflicting arguments from a character for
a time before they become mundane and boring—slowing the pace of the story
rather than furthering the plot. I felt Christian stayed in one place
emotionally for far too long. While I could appreciate the author using the
time to build the relationship between Christian and David, after a while
Christian just came off as whiny and immature.
So I am a bit conflicted about Breakaway. On the one hand I loved these two characters together
and how their relationship built. On the other I felt a bit of editing might
have served the story and Christian quite well. I do think this was a lovely
romance and despite the feeling that bits of it got too repetitive, I liked the
story overall.
Excerpt
We were still chatting after dinner, so we took
our pudding into the living room, while Christian sang Monika’s praises and
practically danced on the spot about being allowed pudding during the week.
He’d always had a phenomenal sweet tooth, and I guessed that being a
professional player was seriously at odds with his desire for sugar.
“Do you want to watch a film?” Christian asked
as he flopped onto the sofa, carefully holding his bowl of lemon tart while
searching for the remote.
“Sure,” I said, settling next to him and taking
in the details of the room. It was light and airy, with large French doors at
one end that I assumed opened up onto the garden, although it was too dark to
see. The room was lit with the soft glow of lamps, which gave it a warm feel
despite its size. The two sofas were scattered with a large selection of
colourful cushions and throws, and in one corner a large television stood on a
wooden stand. There was a unit beside it filled with Blu-rays and games as well
as random knick-knacks and photos, and I was sure I could see a scattering of
trophies in amongst them. I was dying to be nosey, but I also knew that wasn’t
polite.
“What do you fancy? I’ve got Netflix and Amazon
Prime,” Christian said. He gestured at the unit.
“Or there’s lots of Blu-rays up there. Take your
pick.”
“I’ll have a look,” I answered, seizing my
chance to satisfy my curiosity. I placed my bowl on the solid coffee table and
meandered, over but before I could look at any of the photos, something on the
floor behind the coffee table caught my eye.
It was a giant LEGO set, half assembled and
spread across the carpet, the carefully numbered bags laid out neatly next to
the large instruction manual.
“Holy fuck, is that the Millennium Falcon?” It
was still more of a frame than anything else, but the shape was still
recognisable.
“Yeah,” Christian said, his cheeks tinting again
which made something funny pulse in my chest. “I, um, I like building them for
fun. They’re good to take my mind off things, help me focus on being in the
moment instead of dwelling on stuff. And I like Star Wars.”
“Do you have others?”
Christian nodded, chewing his lip and smiling.
“I built the Death Star in the spring. That was fun, but it took hours. It’s
upstairs so I don’t knock it over.”
My inner geek was dancing. I’d always loved Star
Wars, and Christian and I had spent hours watching them as kids. My mum had
even taken the two of us to see Revenge of the Sith for my birthday. As
an adult I’d always longed for a couple of these sets, but they were so fucking
expensive I’d never imagined getting one. I mean, this Millennium Falcon kit
was worth nearly seven hundred quid.
“Can—can we build it now?” I asked, trying not
to hold my breath.
“Really? I mean, you’d be interested in that?”
There was a note of astonishment in Christian’s voice, while mine was barely
controlled excitement.
“Of course! I’ve always wanted to get my hands
on this.”
“Okay,” Christian said with a nod. “Let’s do it.
Do you want to put a film on in the background? Maybe The Force Awakens?
I haven’t seen it in a while.”
“Sounds perfect!”
Ten minutes later we were sitting on the floor,
the opening credits of the film playing in the background while Christian
talked me through what he’d done so far. It was obvious that he took his
building seriously, and I had to admit it was adorable. After my pep talk, he
handed me a bag and showed me the instructions he wanted me to follow.
“You know, I’m sure there’s a terrible joke
about inserting things somewhere in there,” I said, watching the way
Christian’s face flushed as my words filtered through.
“Probably,” he added. “But I’ve never thought of
it.”
“Me neither, I’m not good with words.”
“I find that hard to believe—you’re doing your
PhD.”
“Nah, that’s all smoke and mirrors,” I joked.
“So, tell me more about your work,” Christian
said, picking up his own pieces. “I don’t know much about academic stuff beyond
what Lily’s told me.”
I smiled, opened my bag, and began talking. And
I didn’t stop. Well, not until the early hours of the morning. By that time,
we’d covered my degree, Lily, our mums, the Champions League, and the new Star
Wars and Marvel films. The only thing we’d avoided discussing was our relationships,
but I figured that was because neither of us had much to tell. Plus, talking
about new partners with exes is one of those weird grey areas I’m pretty sure
you’re supposed to avoid.
With every word, I could feel Christian slotting
back into my life like he’d never left, but at the same time, this wasn’t the
same Christian as before. It was a new version—older, smarter, and sweeter. He
was driven and determined and had a desire to know as much as he could and
actually seemed interested when I spent another hour talking about my work. He
talked non-stop about how proud he was of Lily and how much he loved her, and
he was so endearingly serious and charming that I couldn’t help but be bowled
over by him. And he was so disarmingly handsome that every time he smiled or
chewed on his perfect, pink lips, the hot ball of desire in my chest burnt
hotter and hotter until it felt like there was a supernova inside me.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this
way about anyone.
It had probably been six years.
Charlie lives in England
with her husband and a severe lack of dogs. She spends most of her days
wrangling other people’s words in her day job and then trying to force her own
onto the page in the evening.
She loves cute stories
with a healthy dollop of angst, even more fluff, plenty of delicious sex, and
happily ever afters – because the world needs more of them. Charlie also
believes that love comes in all shapes and sizes.
Charlie has very little
spare time, but what she does have she fills with cooking, pole-dancing,
reading and ice-hockey. She also thinks that everyone should have at least one
favourite dinosaur…
Website: https://charlienovak.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/charlienwrites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlienwrites/
FB Readers Group (Charlie’s Angels): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1287247458080320/
Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
No comments:
Post a Comment